Many cutting devices used in gardening include a pair of handle sections which are operated by a hand, and a cutting head attached to the handle sections. The cutting head performs either a scissors action or an anvil-type lopping action. Cutting devices of this type include hand driven pruners, hedge shears, grass shears, and the like.
Hand driven devices such as those mentioned above, provide severe drawbacks, especially during extended work periods. Even during times of limited work periods, hand driven cutting devices are limited by the power of the hand itself. In periods of extended work, hand driven cutting devices require that the hand and arm be held in difficult and awkward positions in order to extend reach and to cut at a variety of angles. Placing the hand and arm in awkward positions leads to fatigue of the hand and arm muscles and in the long term can produce problems with tendons, especially in the so-called carpal tunnel areas of the hand and wrist, and further strenuous hand operation may cause blisters of the hand.
For professional applications, a variety of powered devices have been developed. For example electric, pneumatic, hydraulic, and gas-powered cutting devices have been developed and used. These devices, although not requiring cutting input to be provided by the hand, still have a number of drawbacks. These drawbacks include high price, due to the complexity of the devices and high weight, due to the power plants for the devices. For example, a battery driven unit requires a heavy pack of batteries that must be carried on an operator's back. The weight of these battery units may be in the range of 5-10 kilograms, or more. Therefore, although powered devices have as their goal, less fatigue for an operator, because the cutting power is provided by an electric, pneumatic, hydraulic, or gas powered device, fatigue is still produced because an operator is still burdened with the weight of these devices while working in the garden or field. Furthermore, the complexity of these powered devices typically produces bulkiness or awkwardness making it both difficult to transport and difficult to position the cutting head at the proper angle to produce the desired cutting result.
There is a need and desire for a foot driven cutting device that has a reduced amount of complexity when compared with other powered cutting devices.
There is also a need and desire for a foot driven cutting device for which the legs of an operator provide the cutting force that is transmitted to a cutting head and the hand of the operator is used to control the cutting head.
There is also a need and desire for a foot operated cutting devices that does not require any accessories beyond a foot actuator, a cutting device, and a force transmitter connecting the foot actuator and the cutting device. Further still, there is a need and desire for a foot actuated cutting device that provides less fatigue for an operator when compared with traditional hand driven cutting devices.